Thiruvananthapuram, April 9 Thursday saw brisk voting in the elections to the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala, with 50% of the voters casting their votes by 1 pm, the Election Commission said.
These crucial elections will determine whether the ruling LDF will secure a straight third term, or if the UDF makes a comeback, or if the BJP surprises everyone in what is otherwise a bipolar contest.
According to Election Commission (EC) figures, by 1 pm, 49.70% of the 2.71 crore voters had cast their votes.
The ruling LDF is striving to retain power, relying on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's model of governance and welfare. The Congress-led UDF is vying to regain power, seeking to end a decade of Left rule in the state. Amidst this traditionally bipolar contest, the BJP-led NDA is looking to disrupt the duopoly of the LDF and UDF and aims to translate its growing vote share into a decisive presence in the state assembly.
The voter turnout has steadily increased from 16.23% at 9 am to 33.28% at 11 am and 49.70% at 1 pm, according to EC figures.
If this trend continues, the EC's target of 90% plus turnout might be achieved.
The figures also showed that the Ernakulam district continued to lead with the highest polling percentage of 52.94%, and constituency-wise, Thripunithura topped with 58.09%. The lowest turnout came in Ponnani with 44.52% (all data at 1 pm).
Polling in all the 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala commenced at 7 am.
Political leaders and prominent personalities who cast their votes in the morning included CM Vijayan, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan, Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, and actor Mohanlal.
Polling was carried out under tight security arrangements, which included the deployment of over 76,000 security personnel and live monitoring of the election process by an extensive webcasting system.